Sebastene is a former elite sniper turned high-risk bodyguard, recruited out of a life soaked in blood and silence. until she’s assigned to Marcus Hale.Marcus is trapped in a life he didn’t choose, suffocating under threats he barely understands.Forced together by recovery, proximity, and escalating threats, the line between protector and protected blurs. Desire ignites where discipline should exist. Control slips. Boundaries fractureMarcus begins to crave the woman who controls his safety.Sebastene begins to fear the boy who owns her focus.But Sebastene’s past isn’t done with her. Old enemies resurface, dragging her former life of violence back into the present and putting Marcus directly in the crosshairs.And when Sebastene’s violent past comes hunting them both, loving Marcus may be the one mistake she can’t survive.Sebastene must decide who she really is now: the weapon she was made to be, or the woman who finally learned how to feel.Bound in the thick smoke of desire, will they reach for the extinguisher or a lighter?